Who Let Him Cultivate?! (WX)-Chapter 294: The Reason for Qin Haoran Being Hunted Down

“Debt collector” was a term Lu Yang was all too familiar with; he had a friend who fit that description.

“Why are you looking at me? I didn’t borrow any money!” Meng Jingzhou snapped angrily upon noticing Lu Yang’s gaze.

“Do you know which faction the debt collectors belonged to? Was it the Meng Family, the Luodi Merchant Guild, or some other group?” In Lu Yang's memory, the most prominent loan providers were these two factions: the wealthy Meng Family and the ubiquitous Luodi Merchant Guild.

Li Haoran shook his head. “I don’t know which faction it was. The dream fragments are always disjointed. A few days ago, I dreamed about the moment before Qin Haoran was severely injured. From their conversation, I learned that the other party was a debt collector and Qin Haoran had no money.

“But it’s not necessarily Qin Haoran who borrowed money. It could be that the entire Nine-Netherworlds Creed borrowed money, and the debt collectors went after the one in charge, in other words, the creed leader.”

Lu Yang was floored. “The other party knew that Qin Haoran was the leader of the Nine-Netherworlds Creed?” They were so bold as to lend money to the Nine-Netherworlds Creed?

If the Great Xia Dynasty finds out, they’ll be lucky to get away with just a layer of skin peeled off.

Li Haoran shook his head, stroking his chin as he analyzed. Through the repeated torment from Qin Haoran’s memories, his knowledge base was rapidly expanding. “They probably didn’t know. Based on the memory fragments I’ve obtained and my understanding of Qin Haoran, the most likely possibility is that Qin Haoran first withdrew a portion of spirit stones from the Nine-Netherworlds Creed’s treasury to register a small merchant guild, with its members being Qin Haoran and a few dozen people from the creed.

“After that, using some methods, probably short-term money-making schemes with long-term risks, he made it look like the small merchant guild’s business was booming. The few times the merchant guild borrowed money from the moneylenders, they would always repay on time. That way, when the moneylenders assessed this small merchant guild, they would perceive them as highly creditworthy, with a solid business and a future brimming with potential.

“The small merchant guild would then propose borrowing a huge sum to expand its operations, and the moneylenders were likely to agree. After obtaining the money, the merchant guild could spend all the spirit stones under the guise of business operations. In reality, they were secretly transferring all the spirit stones to the Nine-Netherworlds Creed.

“In the end, the small merchant guild declared bankruptcy.

“Since Qin Haoran registered the small merchant guild as a limited liability entity, its liability was limited to its contributed capital, and its members bear no personal liability. Thus, the creditors couldn’t directly claim their debts from Qin Haoran or other higher-ups of the Nine-Netherworlds Creed.”

Li Haoran concluded, “In summary, Qin Haoran and the Nine-Netherworlds Creed borrowed money without having to repay it. It was a perfect plan.”

After hearing the story, Lu Yang felt that it seemed quite reasonable for the debt collectors to be hunting Qin Haoran down.

Understandable.

“Fortunately, Qin Haoran is dead, and his debts don’t fall on you,” Meng Jingzhou remarked, feeling relieved for Li Haoran. Otherwise, even if we sell Li Haoran, we won’t be able to repay the interest, let alone the debt.

“I hope so.” Li Haoran didn’t feel particularly comforted. This was one of the reasons he couldn’t sleep or eat in peace.

From a legal standpoint, I won’t inherit the debts of my past life, but whether the debt collectors will respect the law is another matter.

That troublemaker and deadweight Qin Haoran had it coming; good riddance!

Lu Yang patted Li Haoran’s shoulder. “Staying cooped up in your cave abode isn’t good. Why not go out for a change? Have you thought about how to form your golden core?”

Li Haoran shook his head. “No.”

In truth, he had Qin Haoran’s golden core formation method in his memories, but he didn’t want to follow Qin Haoran’s path.

“Perfect timing then. You should also form your golden core soon. Go out for a stroll for a change of mood. Who knows if you might find your fortuitous opportunity to form a golden core?

“With us two Golden Core experts protecting you, I guarantee nothing will go wrong on this trip!” Meng Jingzhou gave himself a thumbs-up, not forgetting that their original purpose in coming here was to show off their golden cores.

Li Haoran, “...”

So what if you’ve formed your golden cores? Think that makes you special? I have the cultivation epiphanies of an Apex Fusion expert; I’ll surpass you two sooner or later!

Yun Zhi had explicitly forbidden Li Haoran from leaving the Dao-Seeking Sect; otherwise, he would have gone to the jungle in search of opportunities to form his golden core.

There was only one circumstance in which Li Haoran could leave the Dao-Seeking Sect—if Lu Yang led him.

Lu Yang was a much safer option than Fifth Elder; they wouldn’t be scared even if they encountered an immortal.

“Let me inform my shifu before we leave.“

”Let's go.”

~~~

The three found Fifth Elder, who was forging artifacts. He held a massive hammer and hit the weapons, sending sparks flying everywhere. Every strike felt like mountains colliding, the earth shaking, and the ground trembling.

“Oh, it’s Haoran. What’s the matter?” Fifth Elder paused when he saw Li Haoran and the others approaching. He shrank the hammerhead and used it to massage his stiff back.

“Shifu, here’s the thing, I want to go out with Senior Brother Lu and Senior Brother Meng...” Li Haoran briefly explained his situation.

Fifth Elder nodded repeatedly, understanding Li Haoran’s predicament. It’s tantamount to Haoran having to deal with the various affairs of a major sect every day, and that is honestly distressing.

Otherwise, we wouldn’t have made the Taciturn Daoist Priest the sect leader.

“Junior Niece Yun Zhi said that if you go out with Lu Yang, nothing will go wrong. You may go.”

“Should we inform Big Senior Sister?” Li Haoran asked. He couldn’t help but feel guilty about leaving the sect.

“Big Senior Sister has something to attend to outside and won’t be back for a while,” Lu Yang said. I might be the only one in the entire Dao-Seeking Sect who knows what she’s up to.

The Xia Emperor had granted permission to relocate the immortal’s cave abode, and Yun Zhi had gone to move the Everlasting Immortal Fairy’s kitchen. Moving it without damaging the integrity of the Everlasting Ruins was an exceedingly challenging task and required Yun Zhi to see to it herself.

The Everlasting Immortal Fairy was elated, giggling the whole day and unable to keep her mouth closed. She said that once the kitchen was moved back, she would definitely have to show off her skills to Lu Yang.

Lu Yang was too frightened to say anything.

~~~

After reporting to Fifth Elder, the three were about to board the vessel leaving the Dao-Seeking Sect when Lu Yang suddenly asked, “By the way, where are we headed?”

How can we buy tickets without knowing the destination?

The three exchanged blank glances at one another. They had been so focused on leaving the Dao-Seeking Sect that they hadn’t decided where to go.

We can’t just go back to the jungle, right?

“How about this? Let’s go to the Great Mission Hall and pick a mission. We’ll go wherever the mission takes us,” Li Haoran proposed. He happened to be short on contribution points.

“That works.” Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou nodded, treating it as accompanying Li Haoran to earn contribution points.

Among the three, only Li Haoran lacked contribution points. Lu Yang had plenty of contribution points, and he could also use the Everlasting Immortal Fairy’s contribution points at any time, while Meng Jingzhou could exchange spirit stones for contribution points.

~~~

Upon arriving at the Great Mission Hall, Meng Jingzhou immediately spotted a task he liked.

“Southern Ji Province, Shoutian[1] Commandery, Guhuai[2] Town. Outside the town is an abandoned temple where travelers often stop by. There are rumors of female ghosts that feed on yang energy haunting the area. Ever since word got out, travelers have been flocking there...”

“This is the one!” Meng Jingzhou slapped his thigh in excitement, feeling that he was fated for this mission.

It’s the perfect opportunity to test whether my Double Single’s Golden Core works!

Li Haoran rubbed his chin. Guhuai Town... why does this place sound so familiar?

1. It means something like “guard the fields.” ☜

2. It translates to “ancient locust tree.” ☜